i watched your video spike, and i have no idea how it relates to anything.

julio's question just leads to more questions. are you an architect that doesn't give a shit about your clients? then the answer is easy. beauty. are you paying for the building? if so, economy will become a bit more important. if you're paying for the building and you think you can get a good return on beauty due to the tenants or customers you will be attracting, and you can afford it, beauty still may be ahead of economy. if a REIT or similar 'corporate' or equity entity that isn't actually human is paying for the building, and you represent that entity, and the entity wants to build something quick and turn it over fast for a quick profit, economy may lead beauty but there are actually other factors involved. if you're an architect and you actually listen to your clients, then whether beauty or economy is preeminent may depend on their values.

if we were to accept miles's 2 points as reality based, especially the first one, then would eke's point be to design what the client thinks is beautiful, or what the architect thinks is beautiful? or, more importantly, do we all think expensive is good?

Most clients select an architect based on a style that they imagine is the style of the social class they aspire to belong to. They are largely deficient in the kind of education and experience necessary for art appreciation or even a modest sense of aesthetics.

Regarding expense: featurization, name branding and gold plating is far more expensive than thoughtful design and careful craft. Expense should also include environmental costs, maintenance, life-cycle, etc.

These quotes highlight the great conundrum surrounding the subject of beauty. Goethe and Plato believed that beauty was an objective thing, something that exists in the universe, that we can occasionally glimpse. Hume obviously did not.

One school of thought says an object must first be beautiful, and only then will anyone care if it has a function. Another school of thought is that if something functions flawlessly it will therefore be beautiful.

What??? Seriously? Only a few post in French in good fun and to joke around. I'm not French, but I love the language. If you are actually serious, you need a thicker skin ... especially in architecture.